Nov 30, 2006

Washington, DC.__  The new website of the International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation, IUHRDF, has been launched.  Founded by Rebiya Kadeer in 2005, the year of her release from Chinese prison, the organization is dedicated to promoting human rights and freedom for the Uyghur people.  The website will be a forum to share information about the activities of the organization and to highlight Ms. Kadeer’s work.

IUHRDF is beginning its second year of operations with a generous grant from the National Endowment for Democracy.  This financial support will enable the organization to focus on the rights of women and children who are particularly affected by Beijing’s policies.  One project on the policy of forced abortion will produce a compilation of personal stories. A gathering specifically for Uyghur women is also planned.

Since her release, Ms. Kadeer has spoken out constantly to inform the international community about the plight of Uyghurs in her homeland in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, as the former East Turkistan is now known. The Uyghurs have lived under oppressive Chinese rule since 1949.  Her message to western governments is simple and straightforward: pressure the Chinese government to respect the internationally guaranteed human rights of the Uyghur people. 

 In testimony to the U.S. Congress, in countless meetings with officials of western governments and before student and civic groups, Ms. Kadeer describes the oppression of the Uyghurs’ culture and language, and their basic freedoms.  Public criticism of Chinese policies brings harsh punishment, which Ms. Kadeer experienced personally.  Once one of the richest persons in China, she was arrested in 1999 as she was about to meet with a delegation from the U.S. Congressional Research Service.  She served almost six years of an eight year sentence for leaking “state secrets.   Now in exile, she continues to pay the price of her activism: three of her sons are in prison and a daughter under house arrest, simply because they are her children.

 Ms. Kadeer was short-listed for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, bringing with it much publicity about her life and the difficult situation of the Uyghur people.  Ms. Kadeer currently serves as president of the Uyghur American Association, also based in Washington and has just been elected president of the World Uyghur Congress.  She is the subject of an upcoming biography to be published in Germany.

Int'l Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation
1700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Suite 400
Washington, DC 20006
tel: 202-349-4192
fax: 202-349-4195